> The issue is this... When you are actually recording audio from the
> microphone, if you press the up or down volume side buttons on the
> clip zip, the microphone stops recording though the device keeps on
> creating the mp3 file which ends up being just silence.

I also own a Clip Zip. I hadn't noticed that problem, so I tried to
replicate your issue on mine just now. Mine works okay during a
recording when the volume is adjusted with the side buttons. I tried in
MP3/192k/Stereo, and also left channel mono/16k/Wavpack. On my unit, the
peak meters continue to register, I continue to hear monitor audio in my
earphones, and the volume indicator starts moving up or down as expected
given which button I was pressing. I can also change the volume with the
4-way pad too.

(I still have the problem where the clip indicators never actually
indicate, despite the recorder clipping like crazy if the gain is too
high, but this is another matter.)

(My Clip Zip's recordings also exhibit horrid DC offsets, more in the
right channel and less in the left. It's mono from the builtin mic
anyway, so this is why I normally set it left-channel mono. Then I have
to be sure to remove the DC offset in post, if I'm going to use the
recording for anything more than personal notes. This too is another
matter, and likely a fault the the Zip's hardware design, not anything
to do with Rockbox.)

Perhaps it's been addressed in my version of the firmware. I haven't
been using the standard releases since I noticed the Opus codec causes
the device to crash sometimes when seeking is attempted (which remains
an outstanding bug). I've been occasionally refreshing my unit with the
development daily builds. My version at present is: 2cdfc43-150115